This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Rob Ford: Look at Ford Nation, Ford Haters and the rest: James

These three subsets of Torontonians will all play a role in how Toronto frees itself from the crisis at city hall.

Supporters of then Councillor Rob Ford leave city hall on March 25, 2010, after their man registered as a mayoral candidate. It was the beginning of a wave that swept Ford to power. Interestingly, their sweatshirts read Team Ford, not Ford Nation. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star file photo)

All three groups, and their subsets, have a role to play in getting Toronto out of the Rob Ford muck that has made this city an international head-scratcher.

Understanding each other, and how we got here, helps. I’ve been trying to, for a quarter-century. Some 15 years of columns from city hall has generated a trail of email responses that give a glimpse into the ancient grievances, misconceptions and poisoned politics that have plopped Toronto into the current sinkhole.

Today, a look at Ford Nation.

Recent Ipsos Reid polling suggests that one in five Torontonians would vote for Rob Ford no matter what. Ipsos vice-president John Wright says this 20 per cent of the voting pool roughly represents Ford Nation, as tested the week of Nov. 7 to 11, after police confirmed the existence of the crack video showing Mayor Rob Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

Article Continued Below

The percentage of supporters may be dropping in the wake of the daily revelations and erratic and bizarre behaviour of the mayor — antics that have attracted television networks from Britain and the U.S., watching the train wreck from outside the mayor’s office at city hall.

My sense has been that the immovable core of Ford Nation numbers 15 per cent.

These are not citizens who got fed up with the tax-and-spend policies of former mayor David Miller, though some of them are. These are not voters who’ve studied the city budget and pinpointed areas of waste, though that’s a motivation. These are not citizens engaged in civic democracy who have reached a political position that conflicts with their neighbour.

In other words, Ford Nation goes far beyond the traditional bounds of Conservative, Liberal, NDP politics. It’s more than the left-right divide. It’s more sinister, more disruptive, more revolutionary, more a tilting against the windmills of society, more a desperate striking-out against our urban norms.

Strikingly, the emails one receives from this disaffected group of citizens are often vicious and vulgar, and when the authors run out of words, the signoff is spiced with personal invectives and salutations like “douchebag” and “scumbag.”

Most of all, the angry men and women of Ford Nation swear undying devotion to Rob Ford until he leaves office, which they hope is never.

Ford’s brand of retail politics — he answers phone calls and pays personal visits to constituents — has endeared him to many; he has their vote for life — though he’s only doing what they are paying him to do.

Besides the above, Rob Ford’s natural constituents are political adherents who devoutly believe in less government. Almost all taxes are bad. Ask how we should pay for billion-dollar transit costs, and they invariably fall back on the declaration that the province should use the money squandered on gas plant closures and eHealth and the like. It’s impossible to engage this subset in a reasonable discussion on government spending. For them, the “gravy train” rhetoric is motherhood.

Then, there is a percentage that are outsiders, either by way of generational snub, class distinction, real or perceived slights, or by choice. This subset are very often from the suburbs, feel that downtowners get all the love and power, and have adopted the politics of grievance.

When Ford says downtown already has enough subways so it’s time to build them in the suburbs, Ford speaks their language.

Andrew’s email represents them:

“The downtown faux bourgeoisie need to know that they can’t vote a mayor in. It’s suburban blue collar overweight red necks that have made Rofo & it will continue.

“It’s Friday, the beer store is filling up with his constituents & they are getting ready to act like he did on the video. They will have their own drunken stupor & brag about it come Monday morning. We aren’t that sophisticated Toronto that we want to be ... @ least not yet.

“This guy isn’t going anywhere.”

Andrew is right. Rob Ford has enough intractable supporters to always be a viable candidate. If he does drugs or drinks and drives or is in a drunken stupor, their response is, “Who doesn’t make mistakes?”

Ford Nation, the hardcore supporters — not the ones who voted for Ford out of protest in 2010 and may now experience occasional pangs of guilt — will go down with the sinking ship.

They care not about Toronto’s image or highfalutin ideas about respect for democratic institutions. They cheer when Rob Ford charges through the council chamber like a raging bull, bowls over a female city councillor, and wags his finger at the council gallery, spoiling for a fight.

To expect these voters to change is to be deluded.

Rob Ford’s demise, should it come, will have to find traction elsewhere. Fortunately, the vast majority of Torontonians — between 80 and 85 per cent — hold the key to the future.

How the 2014 mayoral wannabes split the majority, and how many candidates vie for their votes, will determine the city’s future.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com